​A cowardly bully came outof his cave today totrespass on our shining city.Out of the bluehe had the nerveto punch out itstwo front teeth.The pain is excruciating;Bleeding is everywhere.The remaining stumps aregrotesque.We've lost our pretty smile.We can't bite a big apple.It's hard to look at mutilation.

Dazed, we check for damage.Although choking on thick air,we are very much alive.Our heartbeat is strong.There is no drop in our vital signs.Blood rushes in to replaceblood lost.Slowly we discoverwe can still chewand make a fist andthink.

Oh yes, we'll make surethis "holy" terrorcan never returnto our playgroundor our friends.'But how?How do we shadow boxa villain who doesn'tplay by the rules?We see evidenceof our noble,generous,and loving spirit.Yet hate destroyswithin as well as without.

Here then is our challenge:We must keep this woundfrom festeringbecoming toxic to ourselves.We must imagine the unimaginableto thwart evilbefore it comes back for more.We must seek justice,not vengeance topreserve our soul.We must trust our leaderswho see morethan this one tormenter.We must be braveand patientand faithful.

Here I am in 2014 on the 43rd floor terrace in lower Manhattan. The brand-new Freedom Tower, on the site of the Twin Towers lost on 9/11, soars behind me. It is 1776 feet tall.

Vicki Cobb is the author of about 90 books. The book that first got her noticed was Science Experiments You Can Eat. It has become a classic. This is the cover of the third revised edition of the book, published in 2016. ​

Several years ago, I rode the world’s fastest elevator to the top of one of the world’s tallest buildings—Taipei 101. Shaped like an elegant stalk of bamboo, Taipei 101 soars 1670 feet above the island nation of Taiwan. However, the engineers who designed the building faced two monumental challenges. The first is that dozens of earthquakes shake Taiwan each year. The second is that in an average year, Taiwan gets hammered by three or four hurricanes, or typhoons.

How, engineers wondered, could they keep people comfortable inside Taipei 101 when it swayed back and forth? More important, how could they keep the building from getting damaged or collapsing in a massive earthquake or 100 mile-per-hour winds?

One solution: a damper ball.

Damping devices are weighty objects that can reduce the motion of a bridge, building, or other structure. In the case of Taipei 101, engineers placed the damper ball near the top of the building—the part that sways the most. The ball is hung from thick cables inside the building and rests on giant springs or “dampers.”

One of Isaac Newton’s basic laws of physics is that an object at rest tends to stay at rest—and the damper ball proves it. Every time Taipei 101 starts swaying, the damper ball wants to stay where it is and “pulls back” on the building, reducing how far the building moves. When the building sways in the opposite direction, the process repeats itself—but in the reverse direction. Of course the building also pulls on the damper ball, but the ball’s movements are restricted by the dampers it presses against.

Does the system work? You bet. The damper ball inside of Taipei 101 reduces the building’s movement by 30 to 40 percent!

Of course not just any damping device could protect an enormous building like Taipei 101. Taipei’s damper ball weighs 1.5 million pounds—as much as two fully-loaded jumbo jets. It is composed of 41 circular steel plates that stand taller than a one-story house. In 2008, when a giant earthquake hit mainland China, the people of Taiwan could feel it hundreds of miles away. The damper ball did its job, resisting Taipei 101’s movement, keeping the building safe. During Typhoon Soudelor in 2015, the damper again worked like a charm, protecting the building against 100- to 145-mile-per-hour winds.

Besides protecting Taipei 101, the damper ball has become a major tourist attraction. Each year, thousands of visitors ride to the 89th floor. They take selfies next to the damper ball. They even take “Damper Baby” souvenirs home with them. If you’re ever lucky enough to visit Taiwan, check it out!

Left: Taipei 101 is a landmark skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. The building was officially classified as the world's tallest in 2004, and remained such until the completion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. Alton Thompson, Wikimedia CommonsAbove: The damper is a steel sphere 18 feet across. Supported by eight steel cables, it swings like a pendulum. Armand du Plessis, Wikimedia Commons

The damper ball is visible between the 89th and 91st floor of Taipei 101 and has become an attraction for tourists.

*NEWSFLASH*September, 2018: iNK begins its fifth year of publication of the Nonfiction Minute-- an amazing free resource with more than 4 million page views.

*NEWSFLASH *The NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Committee is pleased to inform youthat 30 People Who Changed the World has been selected for Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2018, a cooperative project of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) & the Children’s Book Council